Measurements of the energy dependence of prompt neutron emission from /sup 233/U, /sup 235/U, /sup 239/Pu, and /sup 241/Pu for E /SUB n/ = 0. 005 to 10 eV relative to emission from spontaneous fission of /sup 252/Cf

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984 · Nucl. Sci. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6476916

Gwin, R; Ingle, R W; Spencer, R R

A series of experiments has been performed to measure the dependence on the incident neutron energy of the average number of prompt neutrons emitted per fission from /sup 233/U, /sup 235/U, /sup 239/Pu, and /sup 241/Pu relative to the average number of prompt neutrons emitted in spontaneous fission of /sup 252/Cf. The incident neutron energy range was 0.005 to 10 eV. A white neutron source was generated by the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator and the energies of the neutrons incident on the fissile samples were determined by time-of-flight techniques. In each experiment, the samples, including the /sup 252/Cf standard, were contained in different sections of a fission chamber that was surrounded by a large volume (0.91 m/sup 3/) of liquid scintillator loaded with gadolinium. The fission chamber detected fission events, and the scintillator detected the accompanying prompt neutrons. The resulting data were analyzed to yield: R /SUB p/ (E) = v /SUB p/ (E) (fissile)/v /SUB p/ (/sup 252/Cf). Only for /sup 239/Pu was any neutron energy dependence definitely confirmed, with R /SUB p/ (E) for /sup 239/Pu being lower by 0.7% in the resonance at 0.3 eV than it was near 0.025 eV. For incident energies of 0.02 to 0.05 eV, values of R /SUB p/ (E) were 0.6597 + or - 0.0018 for /sup 233/U, 0.6443 + or - 0.0014 for /sup 235/U, 0.7655 + or - 0.0014 for /sup 239/Pu, and 0.7820 + or - 0.0018 for /sup 241/Pu.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• OSTI ID: 6476916
• Journal Information: Nucl. Sci. Eng.; (United States), Vol. 87:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
CALIFORNIUM 252
SPONTANEOUS FISSION
PLUTONIUM 239
NEUTRON EMISSION
PLUTONIUM 241
URANIUM 233
URANIUM 235
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
EV RANGE
FISSION CHAMBERS
GADOLINIUM
LIQUID SCINTILLATORS
ORELA
PROMPT NEUTRONS
RESONANCE
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
ACCELERATORS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BARYONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CALIFORNIUM ISOTOPES
DECAY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
ENERGY RANGE
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FERMIONS
FISSION
FISSION NEUTRONS
HADRONS
HEAVY NUCLEI
IONIZATION CHAMBERS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
PHOSPHORS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTHS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
220100* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Theory & Calculation